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whatsbethanyreading's review against another edition
2.0
The book was interesting, but it was all over the place. I found myself forgetting what I was reading about because there are so many storylines and topics being covered in one book. This book could have easily been 10 books wrapped into one. I really enjoyed the historical aspects of the book and reading about some of the characters backstories, but I was uninterested in the present story. There was just too much going on.
dr_kristine_gentry's review against another edition
3.0
re-reading for book group. I read a long time ago.
wusan94's review against another edition
I couldn’t do this one. Ended at Part 2 Chapter 14. The main character is just a jerk and I don’t like him enough to read anymore.
erinrouleaux's review against another edition
4.0
Beautiful!
It's weird because there's something amateur? unintellectual? about his writing, yet it's profoundly wise and he comes up with poetic comparisons all over the place. I can't place it. Maybe the characters are a bit too cheesy at times. Hopeless romantic? I don't know. But he writes about insanely tragic things and with utter understanding. This and Prince of Tides are very healing books - they have a raw power.
One paragraph summed up my Mom in such beauty that that is all I need to know. I can stop trying to figure her out. That paragraph was insanely healing.
I can't imagine the utter grief and loss he must have experienced in his lifetime - you can tell he writes what he knows.
His knowledge on the holocaust was amazing also. It brought to light the idea of fear and how "to fear only cowardice" is so important, in life and if not followed allows the holocaust to happen and allows you to be reduced to sub human.
I watched Moulin Rouge shortly after and realized how profound Toulouse's character is. The Bohemian Revolution has a negative conotation to it and yet I can see exactly where and why it sprung up when people allowed themselves to be reduced to dogs - not human at all anymore and really all that matters is truth, beauty and freedom and love. Without those elements we are nothing but cowards and there's no point to living. Like in the Mao regime - all based on fear - fear of what I don't know what was Mao afraid of to hate protest beauty enforcing grass to be picked?
It's weird because there's something amateur? unintellectual? about his writing, yet it's profoundly wise and he comes up with poetic comparisons all over the place. I can't place it. Maybe the characters are a bit too cheesy at times. Hopeless romantic? I don't know. But he writes about insanely tragic things and with utter understanding. This and Prince of Tides are very healing books - they have a raw power.
One paragraph summed up my Mom in such beauty that that is all I need to know. I can stop trying to figure her out. That paragraph was insanely healing.
I can't imagine the utter grief and loss he must have experienced in his lifetime - you can tell he writes what he knows.
His knowledge on the holocaust was amazing also. It brought to light the idea of fear and how "to fear only cowardice" is so important, in life and if not followed allows the holocaust to happen and allows you to be reduced to sub human.
I watched Moulin Rouge shortly after and realized how profound Toulouse's character is. The Bohemian Revolution has a negative conotation to it and yet I can see exactly where and why it sprung up when people allowed themselves to be reduced to dogs - not human at all anymore and really all that matters is truth, beauty and freedom and love. Without those elements we are nothing but cowards and there's no point to living. Like in the Mao regime - all based on fear - fear of what I don't know what was Mao afraid of to hate protest beauty enforcing grass to be picked?
carol_saxelby's review against another edition
5.0
I don't know that there's much I can add to the other reviews of this book. It's achingly beautiful. I've read it more than once, and I could easily read it again. Pat Conroy is a master of language, and I'm only sorry that it takes him so very long between novels.
mknapp828's review against another edition
So I didn't actually finish this book, but I don't know how to remove it from my goodreads thing without marking it as read so whatever. I rarely leave books unfinished, but I just couldn't get into this one and I think it contributed to my reading slump.
Don't get me wrong, Conroy's writing is lovely. He's very eloquent and is a great storyteller. However, this just was not a book for me. For one, it takes place where I live. I really don't like reading books that take place here as I'm trying to escape from what I know through reading.
I don't know. I think this book would be fantastic for some people. I'm just not one of them.
Don't get me wrong, Conroy's writing is lovely. He's very eloquent and is a great storyteller. However, this just was not a book for me. For one, it takes place where I live. I really don't like reading books that take place here as I'm trying to escape from what I know through reading.
I don't know. I think this book would be fantastic for some people. I'm just not one of them.
thaisharlow's review against another edition
5.0
This book is a rollercoaster of emotions - I laughed & cried which is not the norm for me when I read a book. There are so many complex topics woven throughout the story. Set in a backdrop of South Carolina low country culture, the writer uses sibling relationships, mother/son, the loss of a mother, suicide, events of the holocaust, economic poverty, father/son relationships, and the impact of the Vietnam War to create this complex and magical story for the reader. Pat Conroy is a real master.
stephenmatlock's review against another edition
4.0
Sometimes I think Pat Conroy writes the same book over and over, but it's because he continues to develop characters that seem so heartbreakingly real. You want to get into the stories so you can warn the characters and cry "Stop!"
bananaesq18's review against another edition
1.0
This book is a train wreck. How much over-the-top silliness can one cram into a single book? Maybe that's why it had to be so absurdly long. Also, as the granddaughter of actual Holocaust survivors, I can't help but be totally irritated by this Southern American Christian man's Lifetime movie appropriated version of my family's reality. I did my best to give him the benefit of the doubt but this was ridiculous.